Interactive system and glasses with gesture recognition function

ABSTRACT

Glasses with gesture recognition function include a glasses frame and a gesture recognition system. The gesture recognition system is disposed on the glasses frame and configured to detect hand gestures in front of the glasses thereby generating a control command. The gesture recognition system transmits the control command to an electronic device to correspondingly control the electronic device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/929,061 filed on, Jun. 27, 2013, which claimsthe priority benefit of Taiwan Patent Application Serial Number101124573, filed on Jul. 6, 2012, the full disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Disclosure

This disclosure generally relates to eyeglasses and, more particularly,to glasses with gesture recognition function.

2. Description of the Related Art

With the vigorous development of the smartphone technology, thesensitivity and smoothness of the touch panel are also improved forbeing operated and used on the users' cell phones. More and more controlgestures have been provided such as moving the thumb closer to orfarther away the index finger to perform zoom-in and zoom-out functions,or moving the finger rightward to perform a page-turning command.However, the gesture recognition methods mentioned above are allperformed through a touch panel.

In the present day, the optical gesture recognition has been developedquickly due to the vigorous development of the multimedia technology.For example, a user can control a smart TV to switch channel or adjustvolume by using hand gestures. However, current gesture recognitiondevices are integrated with the electronic device and the gesturerecognition is performed by means of optical sensing such that theoperating distance is limited, e.g. the technology disclosed in the U.S.Pat. No. 5,594,469.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a gesture recognition system that has awireless transmission unit configured to transmit the control command toan electronic device at a distance therefrom.

The present disclosure further provides glasses that include the abovegesture recognition system so as to control the electronic device at adistance therefrom.

Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will become moreapparent from the technical features of the present disclosure.

To achieve one, a part of or all objects above or other objects, oneembodiment of the present disclosure provides glasses including aglasses frame and a gesture recognition system. The glasses frameincludes a left lens frame, a right lens frame and a connecting partconnecting between the left lens frame and the right lens frame, whereinthe connecting part has a constant width region. The gesture recognitionsystem is embedded inside the constant width region of the connectingpart of the glasses frame and includes an illumination device and animage sensor. The illumination device and the image sensor are disposedinside the constant width region of the connecting part, wherein theconstant width region connects the right and left lens frames along atransverse direction, and the illumination device and the image sensorare disposed adjacent to each other along a direction parallel to thetransverse direction inside the constant width region of the connectingpart.

In one aspect, the gesture recognition system is not integrated with theelectronic device.

In one aspect, the control command may be an ON/OFF command, a zoomingcommand, a page-turning command, a volume command or a channel-selectioncommand.

In one aspect, the motion track of the object may be an upward track, adownward track, a leftward track, a rightward track, a forward track, abackward track or a rotation track.

In one aspect, the gesture recognition system further includes anillumination device configured to provide a light beam, wherein theimages captured by the image sensor are formed by capturing reflectionof the light beam reflected from the object.

The present disclosure further provides glasses including a glassesframe and a gesture recognition system. The gesture recognition systemis disposed on the glasses frame. The gesture recognition systemincludes an image sensor, a processor and a transmission unit. The imagesensor is configured to capture a plurality of images containing amotion track of an object. The processor is configured to process theimages and recognize the motion track of the object thereby generating acontrol command. The transmission unit is configured to transmit thecontrol command to an electronic device to correspondingly control theelectronic device.

In one aspect, the gesture recognition system may be integrated on aconnecting part of the glasses frame.

In one aspect, the gesture recognition system may be integrated on atemple arm of the glasses frame.

The present disclosure further provides an interactive system includingglasses and an electronic device. The glasses include a glasses frameand a gesture recognition system. The glasses frame includes a left lensframe, a right lens frame and a connecting part connecting between theleft lens frame and the right lens frame, wherein the connecting parthas a constant width region. The gesture recognition system is embeddedinside the constant width region of the connecting part of the glassesframe and wirelessly coupled with the electronic device. The gesturerecognition system includes an illumination device, an image sensor, aprocessor and a transmission unit. The illumination device is disposedinside the constant width region of the connecting part. The imagesensor is disposed inside the constant width region of the connectingpart and configured to capture images. The constant width regionconnects the right and left lens frames along a transverse direction,and the illumination device and the image sensor are disposed adjacentto each other along a direction parallel to the transverse directioninside the constant width region of the connecting part. The processoris configured to recognize motion track of an object according to thecaptured images to generate a control command. The transmission unit isconfigured to transmit the control command to the electronic device tocorrespondingly control the electronic device.

In one aspect, the at least one display unit may be at least one of aleft lens and a right lens. In one aspect, the left lens or the rightlens includes an OLED (organic light emitting diode) display panel.

As mentioned above, the gesture recognition system of the presentdisclosure includes a wireless transmission unit so that the gesturerecognition system has an operating distance. As the gesture recognitionsystem may be disposed on the glasses or other portable devices, e.g. aBluetooth earphone, a cell phone or a tablet computer, it may be placedclose to the user all the time. The control command may be transmittedto the electronic device to be controlled through the wirelesscommunication unit of the gesture recognition system to significantlyextend the operating distance compared to traditional systems. Inaddition, the gesture recognition system may be disposed at differentpositions of the glasses so as to improve the gesture operation. Forexample, the gesture recognition system may be disposed at theconnecting part or the periphery of edges so that the gesture operationmay have a lower chance to block the line of sight. Furthermore, if thepair of glasses itself includes the display unit for displaying images,the gesture recognition system may not include the wireless transmissionunit; i.e. the control command generated by the processor may bedirectly transmitted to the display unit to correspondingly control thecontent shown on the glasses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present disclosurewill become more apparent from the following detailed description whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the glasses with gesture recognitionfunction according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of the gesture recognition systemshown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the glasses with partiallyintegrated structure.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the gesture recognition system inwhich the processor is integrated with an electronic device.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show schematic diagrams of the glasses and gesturerecognition system thereof according to another embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show schematic diagrams of the glasses and gesturerecognition system thereof according to an alternative embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

The above or other technical contents, characteristics and effectsaccording to the present disclosure will become more apparent from thefollowing detailed description of a preferred embodiment in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that terms ofdirection used herein, such as upward, downward, leftward, rightward,forward and backward, are only used for reference but not used to limitthe present disclosure.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the glasses with gesture recognitionfunction according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referringto FIG. 1, the glasses with gesture recognition function 100 of thisembodiment includes a glasses frame 110, wherein a left lens 122 and aright lens 124 may be embedded in the glasses frame 110. Specificallyspeaking, the glasses frame 110 includes a left lens frame 112, a rightlens frame 114, a connecting part 116, a left temple arm 118 a and aright temple arm 118 b. The connecting part 116 is configured to connectthe left lens frame 112 and the right lens frame 114. The left templearm 118 a is connected to the left lens frame 112 and the right templearm 118 b is connected to the right lens frame 114, wherein the left andright temple arms 118 a, 118 b are used to support and fix the glasses100 on two sides of a user's head.

In one embodiment, the glasses frame 110 may have an integratedstructure; i.e. the left lens frame 112, the right lens frame 114, theconnecting part 116 and the left and right temple arms 118 a, 118 b areformed integrally. The glasses frame 110 of this embodiment is describedwith an example having a partially integrated structure; i.e. only theleft lens frame 112, the right lens frame 114 and the connecting part116 are formed integrally as shown by the glasses 100 in FIG. 3, but thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 1, the glasses 110 of this embodiment further includea gesture recognition system 130, wherein the gesture recognition system130 may be disposed on or in the glasses frame 110. For example, thegesture recognition system 130 may be disposed on the connecting part116 of the glasses frame 110, wherein an example of the gesturerecognition system 130 in this embodiment may be embedded in theconnecting part 116. In another embodiment, a part of the gesturerecognition system 130 may be embedded in the lens frames 112, 114 orthe temple arms 118 a, 118 b and the rest part thereof is exposedoutside the lens frames 112, 114 or the temple arms 118 a, 118 b. Inthis manner, the hand waving of a user may not be performed in front ofthe user and the hand waving may be performed at the left-front orright-front of the user in order not to block the line of sight. Inanother embodiment, the gesture recognition system 130 may also be hungon the glasses 100 such that users with myopia may directly hang thegesture recognition system 130 on their glasses without using anadditional pair of glasses.

In this embodiment, the gesture recognition system 130 may include animage sensor 132 and a processor 134, wherein the image sensor 132 isconfigured to successively capture images that contain a motion track ofthe user's hand, and the processor 134 is configured to receive theimages and generate a control command C1 according to the motion trackof the user's hand as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein FIG. 2 is aschematic block diagram of the gesture recognition system 130 of FIG. 1.

In one embodiment, the gesture recognition system 130 may include atransmission unit 136 configured to transmit the control command C1 toan electronic device 200 to correspondingly control the electronicdevice 200, e.g. controlling the ON/OFF of the electronic device 200,zoom-in or zoom-out of the screen information shown on the electronicdevice 200, the cursor shown on the screen of the electronic device 200,or the page-turning command of the screen information shown on theelectronic device 200. In other words, the control command C1 may be anON/OFF command, a zoom-in or zoom-out command, a command turning to aprevious page or a next page, a volume command or a channel-selectioncommand.

In this embodiment, the electronic device 200 may be a display device(e.g. a TV or a monitor), a portable electronic device (e.g. a cellphone or a tablet computer), home appliance or a vehicle electronicdevice. More particularly, the electronic device 200 preferably includesa receiving unit 210 configured to receive the control command C1. Inother words, the glasses 100 of this embodiment may wirelessly transmitthe control command C1 to the electronic device 200 to accordinglycontrol the electronic device 200. In this manner, it is able to providecontrol on the electronic device 200 at a distance therefrom withoutbeing limited by a far distance between the user and the electronicdevice to avoid the condition that the gesture recognition system isunable to detect gestures of the user's hand. It should be mentionedthat, in some cases, the user may not want to use the wirelesscommunication due to the electromagnetic radiation and the gesturerecognition unit 130 of the glasses 100 may be connected to theelectronic device 200 via a cable in another embodiment.

In addition, in order to improve the performance of recognizing the handmotion, the gesture recognition system 130 may further include anillumination device 138, wherein the illumination device 138 isconfigured to provide a light beam L1 and the image sensor 132 isconfigured to receive reflection of the light beam L1 reflected from thehand motion of the user and to generate a plurality of images.Similarly, the processor 134 is configured to receive the images andgenerate the control command C1 mentioned above according to the motiontrack of the user's hand. In this embodiment, the illumination device138 may be one capable of providing infrared light, whereas the imagesensor 132 may be one capable of sensing infrared light, wherein asthere is generally no object between the hand motion of the user and theglasses 100, the gesture recognition system 130 on the glasses 100 isable to recognize the motion track of the user's hand correctly.

In one embodiment, the glasses 100 may further include a switch device140, wherein the switch device 140 may be disposed on the glasses frame110 as shown in FIG. 1. Specifically speaking, the switch device 140 maybe configured to turn on or turn off the gesture recognition system 130so as to effectively reduce the power consumption as well as preventrecognition error.

In addition, the glasses 100 of this embodiment may or may not beembedded with the lens 122, 124 according to the preference of the user.In one embodiment, the left and right lens 122, 124 in the glasses frame110 of the glasses 100 may be corrective lenses, plain glass lenses orlens capable of displaying images, wherein the lens capable ofdisplaying images may include OLED display panel having hightransparency as shown by the glasses 100 a and gesture recognitionsystem 130 a thereof in FIGS. 5 and 6. Specifically speaking, as thelens 122 a, 124 b of the glasses 110 a may directly display images, thewireless transmission unit 136 mentioned above may not be implemented inthe gesture recognition system 130 a and the processor 134 may directlytransmit the control command C1 to the lens 122 a, 124 a to directlycontrol the content shown on the lens 122 a, 124 a.

In another embodiment, the content shown on the lens may also be formedby projection; i.e. the glasses 100 b may further include a projectiondevice 150, wherein the projection device 150 may directly projectimages onto the lens 122, 124 as shown by the glasses 100 a and gesturerecognition system 130 b thereof in FIGS. 7 and 8. Similarly, as thelens 122, 124 of the glasses 100 b may directly show images throughprojection, the wireless transmission unit 136 may not be implemented inthe gesture recognition system 130 a and the processor 134 may directlytransmit the control command C1 to the projection device 150 to directlycontrol the content projected on the lens 122, 124.

It should be mentioned that the gesture recognition systems 130, 130 aand 130 b generate the aforementioned control command by using their ownprocessor 134 to process the gesture images received. In one embodiment,the processor 134 may be integrated with the electronic device 200; i.e.the gesture recognition system 130 c may utilize a control unit 131 totransmit the captured image data I1 to the electronic device 200 throughthe transmission unit 136 and the processor 134 of the electronic device200 processes the image data to generate the control command C1mentioned above as shown in FIG. 4, wherein FIG. 4 shows a schematicdiagram of the gesture recognition system in which the processor isintegrated with the electronic device 200.

As mentioned above, the gesture recognition system and the glasses withgesture recognition function according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure have at least following advantages. First, the gesturerecognition system has a wireless transmission unit so that the gesturerecognition system has an operating distance from the devices to becontrolled. As the gesture recognition system may be disposed on theglasses or other portable devices, e.g. a Bluetooth earphone, a cellphone or a tablet computer, it may be placed close to the user all thetime. The control command may be transmitted to the electronic device tobe controlled through the wireless communication unit of the gesturerecognition system to significantly extend the operating distancecompared to traditional systems.

In addition, the gesture recognition system may be located at differentpositions of the glasses so as to improve the gesture operation. Forexample, the gesture recognition system may be disposed at theconnecting part or the periphery of edges so that the gesture operationmay have a lower chance to block the line of sight. Furthermore, if theglasses have the display unit for displaying images, the gesturerecognition system may not include the wireless transmission unit; i.e.the control command generated by the processor may be directlytransmitted to the display unit to accordingly control the content shownon the glasses.

Although the disclosure has been explained in relation to its preferredembodiment, it is not used to limit the disclosure. It is to beunderstood that many other possible modifications and variations can bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit andscope of the disclosure as hereinafter claimed. Furthermore, anyembodiment or claim of the present invention is not necessary to achieveall objects, advantages, and novel features disclosed herein. Meanwhile,the summary and title are only for searching of patent documents but notto limit the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. Glasses, comprising: a glasses frame comprising aleft lens frame, a right lens frame and a connecting part connectingbetween the left lens frame and the right lens frame, wherein theconnecting part has a constant width region; and a gesture recognitionsystem embedded inside the constant width region of the connecting partof the glasses frame, the gesture recognition system comprising: anillumination device disposed inside the constant width region of theconnecting part; and an image sensor disposed inside the constant widthregion of the connecting part, wherein the constant width regionconnects the right and left lens frames along a transverse direction,and the illumination device and the image sensor are disposed adjacentto each other along a direction parallel to the transverse directioninside the constant width region of the connecting part.
 2. The glassesas claimed in claim 1, wherein the constant width region connects only apart of adjacent edges of the right and left lens frames.
 3. The glassesas claimed in claim 1, wherein the left lens frame, the right lens frameand the connecting part are formed integrally.
 4. The glasses as claimedin claim 1, wherein the constant width region has a width smaller than aheight of the right and left lens frames.
 5. The glasses as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the illumination device is configured to emit infraredlight.
 6. The glasses as claimed in claim 1, wherein the glasses framefurther comprises a left temple arm and a right temple arm respectivelyconnected to the left lens frame and the right lens frame.
 7. Theglasses as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a switch devicearranged on the left temple arm or the right temple arm, and configuredto turn on or turn off the gesture recognition system.
 8. The glasses asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising two lenses each having an OLEDdisplay panel.
 9. An interactive system, comprising: an electronicdevice; and glasses, comprising: a glasses frame comprising a left lensframe, a right lens frame and a connecting part connecting between theleft lens frame and the right lens frame, wherein the connecting parthas a constant width region; and a gesture recognition system embeddedinside the constant width region of the connecting part of the glassesframe and wirelessly coupled with the electronic device, the gesturerecognition system comprising: an illumination device disposed insidethe constant width region of the connecting part; an image sensordisposed inside the constant width region of the connecting part andconfigured to capture images, wherein the constant width region connectsthe right and left lens frames along a transverse direction, and theillumination device and the image sensor are disposed adjacent to eachother along a direction parallel to the transverse direction inside theconstant width region of the connecting part; a processor configured torecognize motion track of an object according to the captured images togenerate a control command; and a transmission unit configured totransmit the control command to the electronic device to correspondinglycontrol the electronic device.
 10. The interactive system as claimed inclaim 9, wherein the electronic device comprises a display.
 11. Theinteractive system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the control commandcomprises an ON/OFF command, a zooming command, a page-turning command,a volume command and a channel-selection command.
 12. The interactivesystem as claimed in claim 9, wherein the motion track comprises anupward track, a downward track, a leftward track, a rightward track, aforward track, a backward track and a rotation track of the object. 13.The interactive system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the constant widthregion connects only a part of adjacent edges of the right and left lensframes.
 14. The interactive system as claimed in claim 9, wherein theleft lens frame, the right lens frame and the connecting part are formedintegrally.
 15. The interactive system as claimed in claim 9, whereinthe constant width region has a width smaller than a height of the rightand left lens frames.
 16. The interactive system as claimed in claim 9,wherein the glasses further comprises two lenses each having an OLEDdisplay panel.
 17. The interactive system as claimed in claim 9, whereinthe glasses further comprises a left temple arm and a right temple armrespectively connected to the left lens frame and the right lens frame.18. The interactive system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the glassesfurther comprises a switch device arranged on the left temple arm or theright temple arm, and configured to turn on or turn off the gesturerecognition system.
 19. The interactive system as claimed in claim 9,wherein the illumination device is configured to emit infrared light.20. The glasses as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a transmissionunit configured to transmit image data captured by the image sensor.